John Carter of Mars
by Edgar Rice Burroughs · first published 1940
43% recommend57% neutral
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I would reach for John Carter of Mars (Burroughs, 1912) to make the same point. Especially given how some of the "science fiction" elements of it read 100+ years later.
on “My favorite cult sci-fi and fantasy books you may not have heard of before” ↗…you like the Tines or the Skroderiders) Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Borges (Is reality imbued with our ideas?) Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard (Not unlike "the Greeks" of modern fic) John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (perhaps the first true modern fic) Understand by Ted Chiang (Most of his short stories are good, or provoking) Xeethra and the Zothique Cycle by Clark Ashton Smith The Dying…
on “Book recommendations from Hacker News?” ↗The John Carter of Mars books have traveled remarkably well through time.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗There is a lot of crossing between Fantasy and Sci-fi in the early stories. The John Carter of Mars stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs have some weird technology with sword and sorcery tropes, IIRC. The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey transitioned from one genre to the other. And, of course, we…
on “Japanese Retrofuturism and Chrono Trigger” ↗This is what's keeping me from working on my own "John Carter of Mars" game. The books (at least the first 5-6) are public domain, but Edgar Rice Burroughs, inc has John Carter, Dejah Thoris, etc., all trademarked, and can continue that indefinitely. I don't think it…
on “Morgan and Morgan takes Disney to court over 'Steamboat Willie' in ads” ↗My fear with any Snowcrash adaptation is that it will feel like John Carter of Mars (or Warhammer Online [1]). John Carter was a groundbreaking novel, but its ideas became so adapted and universally understood that revisiting them in a movie felt ironically like derivative work. If…
on ““Snowcrash” to be HBO series, compete with actual early Metaverses for viewers” ↗In a little over a month, I read the entire 11 volumes (12? I forget) of the John Carter of Mars series when I was in 6th grade. When I finished the last book, 12-year-old me cried. This epic whirlwind of a journey was over forever. And no one else in the world around me even acknowledged it had…
on “Post Virtual Reality Sadness” ↗